


The Hale Vault

by Goddess47



Series: The Hale Vault [1]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Gen, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-14
Updated: 2017-01-27
Packaged: 2018-09-17 08:44:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 1,730
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9314066
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Goddess47/pseuds/Goddess47
Summary: It's easy to forget the Hale Vault belongs to the Hale family.





	1. Hiding in Plain Sight

**Author's Note:**

> These ficlets were initially written for FullMoon_Ficlet Amnesty (#205). Each chapter is stand-alone...
> 
> This list flagged as not complete, but there's no promise on if/when there will be more chapters.
> 
> ETA: I'm going to close this fic and mark it as complete and create a series for fics that fit into this topic!

It was Mason who pointed out that maybe they shouldn't abuse the Hale vault quite so blatantly.

"I mean, it's supposed to be a secure hiding place for Hale valuables," he pointed out. "And none of us are Hales."

"I guess too many folk know it's there," Scott agreed. "But we've really needed a place like that for a lot of things."

"Then maybe we need a secure place of our own," Mason argued. "But at some point the wrong people are going to get in there, and take something they shouldn't."

"There is some stuff in there that shouldn't get out," Stiles added over Skype. Even being away at college, Stiles attended pack meetings as often as he could.

"Maybe over Christmas we could wall up the passage under the school," Scott decided. "The building will be pretty empty."

"And I'll be home, so I can put some mojo into it," Stiles offered, waving his hands about vaguely. "To keep any other weak spot from breaking through." Stiles had selected a school close to a Mage who agreed to train his Spark. Being away from the pack for a few years while he underwent training was an investment he was willing to make.

"Anyone know how to build a wall?" Mason asked, looking around. No one moved.

Stiles sighed. "Let me do some research, and talk to my dad," he offered. "We'll come up with something."

"Thanks!" Scott said.


	2. Building Together

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> John really didn't know about building walls, so he went looking for help.

John Stillinski didn't want to admit he was impressed by the plan the Pack had come up with.

Well, not the actual _plan_ , since they really didn't have one, but the thought behind it was a good one. The Pack was starting to come into its own -- growing up.

He hadn't known there was a Hale vault under the high school, and that there was a way in from the high school basement. 

Building walls wasn't exactly something he was experienced with, so he went to Chris Argent for help.

"I knew there was a vault somewhere," Chris admitted. "And that Kate had gotten Derek to let her into it." He rubbed a hand on the back of his neck. "But I suspect I should stay away from this project."

"Oh, right," John realized. He probably shouldn't tell Chris where the vault really is. Just to remove any temptation. What Chris didn't know, he couldn't share.

"On the other hand, I do have a suggestion..." Chris added.

John nodded when he heard it. It was... unexpected but, somehow fitting.

Stiles arrived home for the holidays in his usual whirlwind style.

"We all set?" Stiles asked after he hugged his father warmly.

"I've lined up some help, and we've taken a look at what needs to be done," John replied. "Once everything is in place, it really should be two days. One day to do the building, and a second day for the finishing work."

"That's perfect!" Stiles grinned. "I should be able to do the wards as part of the finishing work."

"Okay," John said. "Now, how about some dinner?"

John had been amazed that Stiles hadn't grilled him about the help John had lined up. On the other hand, Stiles had been busy catching up with Scott, Lydia and the rest of the Pack. 

Needing to be relatively discrete, John had arranged to rent a pickup truck to haul building materials to the school. He had most of the material delivered to his house and had made sure they had the proper tools for the work.

Stiles rode in the passenger seat, fiddling with the radio. John pulled into the school parking lot and stopped at the back door. 

"I know where we can get a cart," Stiles volunteered, as John unlocked the doors to the building. Being the Sheriff had advantages -- he could get keys to the school without too many questions being asked.

"Go," John directed. "The others should be here any time now."

Stiles looked questioningly at that. "Who all is coming?"

"You'll see," John grinned. "Go get this cart. Otherwise, you'll be carrying all this stuff to the basement."

John watched closely as Stiles came back through the doors with the squeaky flatbed cart. 

He didn't miss the delighted look on Stiles' face.

"Peter! Derek!"


	3. Location, Location, Location

"Who had the bright idea to put the entrance to the vault under the high school, anyway?" Stiles demanded.

He stood with Derek in front of the sign for the high school, where the entrance was. It was the middle of the night, since this was such an open place. Even with the Christmas break, there were sports teams practicing, clubs meeting and just general traffic that made it difficult to use the entrance during waking hours.

"I think part of it was to make you have to think first," Derek said, frowning as he remembered a snatch of conversation among the adults that had been in his life. "Unless it was a dire emergency, you had to make a plan to access the vault when you wouldn't be seen."

"But... the _high school_?" Stiles persisted.

Derek shrugged. "The vault was here first," he said. "The high school was built a long time after the vault was established."

"And -- let me guess -- there were folk in the know who were part of the construction of the high school," Stiles said.  
"That I don't know, but I would assume," Derek replied with a shrug. "Before my time."

"I know, I know," Stiles admitted. "Just... it's weird."

Derek revealed the keypad and entered his code.

Nothing happened.

Derek took a breath and entered his code again. Slowly and deliberately, so that he was sure which buttons he pressed.

Nothing.

"Don't tell me you're locked out!" Stile exclaimed.

Derek sighed.

"Peter had to have changed the code," Derek said. "At least, I hope that's what he did. He has the master code and can do that sort of thing."

"Now that we fixed the tunnels, this is really the only way in," Stiles pointed out the obvious.

"I know that." Derek ground his teeth.

Stiles put a hand on Derek's arm. "Sorry... you know me."

Derek let out a breath. He did know Stiles. Which is why he had wanted to get into the vault.   
"I'll have to ask Peter if he set up a new code for me," Derek admitted. He heistated. "Probably makes sense, since I showed Kate how to..."

"I can text him!" Stiles offered, digging his phone out of his pocket.

"Why do you have Peter's number?" Derek was honestly curious.

Stiles blushed. "After being in Hell together, and he helped us get away from the Hunt, figured he could... use a friend."

Derek looked at Stiles. "Thank you."

"So?" He waggled the phone.

"Sure, see if he'll tell you," Derek decided.


	4. Memories

"Whatcha got?" Stiles asked as he dropped on the couch next to Derek. Everyone else was off somewhere -- mostly doing couple-y things -- and Stiles wanted to spend some time with just Derek before he had to go back to college in a few days. Not that he'd admit it.

"Photo album," Derek replied softly.

Stiles leaned against Derek's shoulder, to peek at the pictures. "Kinda figured that out. Where'd you find it?" Stiles knew most of Derek's family possessions had been lost in the fire.

"Got it out of the vault," Derek said.

"Oh."

Stiles squirmed closer to Derek, to look at people he didn't know. Derek shifted slightly so that Stiles could see better.

"Aunt Evelyn -- well, I guess she was a Great-Aunt, since she was my grandmother's sister -- she was our archivist for a long time," Derek explained. "She took care of things like this. There's more in the vault, but this was one of the last ones she did before she died."

Stiles hummed in encouragement.

"Nathan was planning on being the next archivist," Derek said so softly that Stiles could barely hear. "He was interested in history in school... and he and Evelyn got along really well. She had given him some projects... as a helper." Derek lightly touched a picture. "He helped her with some of this."

They sat in silence for several minutes, as Derek stared at the pictures on the page.

"Tell me about them," Stiles asked. 

Derek cleared his throat, and started talking about his family.


	5. Portrait of a Werewolf as a Small Boy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There are unexpected treasures in the Hale vault

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For Fullmoon_Ficlet #207 - Portrait

Stiles was looking for information on creating wards. Since Derek -- okay, and Peter -- had decided to stay in the area, Derek decided he needed someplace more permanent to live. After looking around, he had decided to build himself a new home on the outskirts of the Preserve. 

Once Derek had house plans, Stiles insisted he wanted to make sure Derek had all the protections Stiles could give him. That meant accessing the books in the Hale vault for information.

Luckily, Peter was in a generous mood and told Stiles which books he should look for. Peter could be capricious, sometimes.

Derek took Stiles to the vault, and they both looked through the stacks of boxes to find the books. While Peter had titles, he didn't know where in the vault the books might be. So they had to look carefully through dusty boxes.

Working on different sides of the room, Stiles heard Derek make a small, choked off sound.

"Derek?" Stiles asked, turning to look at the noise.

Derek stood frozen, looking into the box he had just opened.

"What did you find?" Stiles crossed the room to peer into the box.

"She kept them." Derek's murmured so softly that Stiles barely heard him. Derek slowly reached into the box and brought out a tattered stuffed fox.

Stiles leaned against Derek as Derek brought the toy up to his nose. "It smells like her." He took another lungful. "My mom."

"Laura gave me such a hard time about this," Derek said softly after a long moment. "The stuffed dog belonged to Cora, and we'd play Fox and the Hound. We had seen the movie and we begged for the toys. Cora wanted the hound, so I was the big brother and let her." His hand tightened briefly on the toy. "I never told her I really wanted the fox."

"Awww...." Stiles breathed. "I can see you, playing tag in the woods. Like in the movie. You did that, didn't you?"

Derek nodded.

"We'll find a place for them in your house," Stiles promised.


End file.
